How do I actually study in grad school?
I would characterize you asking this question to be brave and an act of self kindness before I would ever even consider the word embarrassing. Asking for help is a behavior of awareness, a means of shifting your future course. It’s courageous. Please take a moment to sit with that reframe before moving into the practical bits below. I hope you feel even one percentage prouder of yourself for asking this question than previously.
Let’s start with this identity of star student. There is a lot of weight to a characterization like that. I would guess that it may be part of the reason you feel embarrassed to have asked this question, because somewhere within you, you have decided you ‘should know’ how to do this already. Even though this is likely the first time you’re in law school - so how could you know?
Also, secondary school is a different to study for, just as uni is different to study for, just as post-grad is different to study for. So while it is wonderful that you were confident and proud of how you were a student in these other stages, it is important that you’re noticing that what worked for you then, is not working for you now.
I think education is an ever evolving landscape as well and that means new strategies and apps and resources for students as well. Potentially at an even quicker rate than ever before.
I don’t know anything about being a law student, and I didn’t have exams in my masters to become a therapist, so this isn’t the place for hyper-specific advice, but I will leave you with a few ‘to-trys’ that I hope will be helpful for you as you find your way through the rest of your law program.
How to study ‘to-try’s’
Write down every question you have about studying to figure out where the gaps are (i.e. ‘How do I get better at memorization?’ ‘How do I make a study schedule for my exams?’ ‘Do I know anyone who wants to study together for accountability?’ ‘What is another way to engage with this information?’). I am hesitating as I write this letter to not be helpful in a way that just lists strategies and websites that are already listed in other places by others. I know there is a wellspring of information across blogs, Instagram, Substack, Pinterest, YouTube, TikTok, etc. And I can’t see how mentioning time blocking or the pomodoro method or promoting Goodnotes would be helpful if you aren’t sure what it is you are missing in your studying practice. So I would spend some time contending with the specifics of what is missing. What is new about your law exams that are different from the other exams of your past where you did well and earned the identity of star student? Find the gaps and address them. Rather than framing this as ‘I don’t know how to study’ think about finding the answer to ‘how do I study for this type of exam?’.
Take an hour or so to explore if there are any content creators / study tubers / law student accounts who have resources for study tips that are specific to what you might come across in your program. There may be note taking advice or memorization apps or even live co-working groups of students in law that might be invaluable to you. I point you to creators because so much good information is freely given and engagingly shared! See what you find on the internet.
Be playful and experimental with any advice/schedules/apps/websites you may find, but don’t give up on new things too quickly. I think there is important discernment when figuring out what works by what actually doesn’t feel good or isn’t helpful, and what is just new, not familiar, and not quite a habit yet. I would say after doing some research on new note taking methods or new apps to quiz yourself or new methods for structuring your schedule, pick two or three things at the most to try and notice how they fit into your natural rhythms of the day (or don’t) as well as if you feel drained or energized by them. Sometimes it’s doing 5 days of time blocking & feeling pretty terrible with it to know it doesn’t work for you. Like it’s not just new and uncertain, it actively doesn’t work or feel good, so then you know to move along. But if it’s not so obvious if it’s helpful or not yet, then stick it out to get more information!
As much as possible, do not sacrifice your sleep, your ‘off’ time, your connections to your people, or your hobbies in the service of more hours of studying. It frequently is less about increasing the hours, and more about improving the qualify of how you spent those hours. Your exam scores are unlikely to improve by reducing the things that make you feel good and remind you that you are more than only a student. So regardless of what you implement, try to keep the same amount of work time (maybe even less hours if you’re finding improvements with certain strategies!). I know that might seem counterintuitive, but do try to keep away from all nighters and studying all seven days of the week and not making time for other things. When we feel better, we do better. And we are likely never going to feel better by overworking and under connecting & under caring for ourselves.
I recognize this letter may not be the response you hoped as I didn’t offer up any direct strategies on how to study, but that is I hope in your best interest, to allow you to find specific law program related advice. I do hope by reading this response though you find a bit of a process to get you to finding what exactly you need, who to get it from, and have some patience for the adjustment toward results.
Studying is a skill and an ever-evolving practice and I hope you find your confidence and pride back in it as you finish law school. I’m cheering you on as you navigate this!
I believe in you!
Til next Sunday,
Dr. Sydney Conroy
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